AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

So, my ranger project is developing and I'm level 10 now. One problem is good double edged swords. I'm running around with an Utgarth ceremonial blade +1, the only keen one I've found this far. I thought an Utgarth +2 would be quite easy to find, but this far, I've never found any in loot or sold by any merchants. I haven't found any +3 or better double edged swords either, or any other keen double edged swords. I've thought about trying the mythal chrystal thing to either make a keen sword from an ordinary, or getting better enchantment and some kind of elemental damage on the one I have, but with 0 points in weaponcrafting and no chrystal better than one(!) found intermediate one, I doubt I can make it.

Then, the problem is with all special monsters around when choosing favoured enemies. What are Mylocks for instance? Magical beasts or constructs? I've choosen undead (large group of enemies far up in levels), giants (ettins, ogres and trolls are around at my level, and I've heard of other giants higher up in levels), and vermins (for spiders and bugs, my main targets right now. Also a large group even though I dont know if there are so many dangerous vermins higher up). What will I meet later? What kind of monsters are the infamous "dodos" and "greater bears with stunning roars" mentioned in the forum for instance? Is the few really deadly lizard men I killed in the swamps far up in the north worth taking "reptilian humanoids"? Are there any other dangerous reptilian humanoids around (Yuan-Ti's or older ones for instance). Humans? There are tons of human bandits along Pearl Fisher Coast, but they are really dangerous and give crappy xp. Are there other dangerous humans further up in levels that are worth the effort of hunting?

I've been looking for better willsaves. The Ripper longbow is not for sale in Winya anymore and I haven't found any golden circlets. The Browende family armor was sold in Kohlingen a long time ago, but when I checked yesterday the traders have changed their stock. Any suggestions about getting better willsaves (+6 or better) are appreciated.

Good hide/studded armors are rare. The best I've found are +2 standard or Armor of Thorn's, none in loot this far. It seems that good padded and leather armors are by far more common, which is a pity since lack of good hide/studded are only (probably) affecting rangers. Any ideas where to go? Same with shields. A long time ago, I used to go to shadowland, but the entrance to shadowland is gone now and I don't know how to get there anymore. Any hints about shield traders with some good shields are appreciated.

//Carl Coll

grab me ingame sometime & i can fix all of this for you, i can whip up a few
toys with the Mythal system & send you on your way ^^

As for favored enemies: Most people will agree that Favored Enemy: Giants, Outsiders, Undead will help you with the most common enemies around at higher levels. And that Favored Enemy: Dragons is another good choice, as the dragons are pretty tough, but are interesting and profitable to hunt.

Sorry to be a spoil sport, but I always thought (and may be wrong) that the ranger's favoured enemy was a character specific thing..that is too say they dislike an enemy for a reason or are trained against that enemy...if I was choosing I would probably be thinking "who would my char hate?" undead would be a given etc...although I understand you want to make a char that also doesn't suck...so i dont know...keep in mind pvp too:D humans as favoured enemy may suddeny become useful...I would probably choose outsiders, do outsider PCs count as them? heaps of evil outsiders around..

I've read a lot in the forum about PvP, and the fact that rangers should choose races that are common for players to strenthen their PvP abilities. Only once have I been attacked by another player and that was several years ago. I can't really see any benefit at all focusing on the fact that I'm about to defend against other characters. Can someone help me out in this?

Dragons as favoured enemies... They are too few, and if I am about to hunt them, I'll do it with a sorcerer/wizard that can buff me up before the fight anyway. I'm looking for types of monster that I can find a lot of in Amia, in different places, and the type is dangerous above level 20, but also at lower levels. I've never had any character above level 14 in Amia, so I'm a bit lost in the choices I might take.

Giants: yes
Undead: yes
Vermins: are there dangerous spiders in levelrange 15-25? It use to be in other worlds.
Outsiders: I've only seen ant people yet, but I suppose I'll see more of them.
Goblinoids: Hobgoblins in the forests, but they wont be dangerous above level 15.
Half-orcs: Blood moon tribe, but they wont be dangerous above level 15.
Magical beasts: What kind? Cokatrice are, are the dodos this kind? Paralyzing polar bears? Are they magical or spiced up standard animals?
Aberration: I know where to find beholders, one place. Any other monsters like that?
Beasts: What kind?
Constructs: Are there any golems in Amia? Are Mylocks constructs?
Elementals: I haven't met any yet.
Fey: Some Grigs, but not much resistance yet. Any worse around?
Monstrous humanoids: I've met medusas and I know one place with minotaurs, thats it. Anything else?
Shapechangers: I've never met one.
Reptilian: Maybe, I've met some tough lizardmen and kobolds/weak lizardmen are found all around Amia at low levels.
Orcs: Not a threat after level 7, as far as I know.
Animals: The animals out on the islands can be mean. How mean? Are they true animals? What are beastmasters? What are sharks?
Elves: Drow can be tough, I've been killed once by them and maybe I'll meet raiding parties higher up in levels.
Humans: bandits are found in different places, but not a threat after level 15 as far as I know.
Gnomes, dwarves, half elves, halflings... Only other characters, as far as I know. I've met some pygmies, but I suppose they are gnomes/halflings as race, and they aren't much of a threat anyway.

//Carl Coll

swe_west_coast wrote:

Giants: yes Fire Giants. Frost Giants. Ogres.
Undead: yes Cordor Sewers, Manor of Morne, Kohlingen, Ankh'Remun
Vermins: are there dangerous spiders in levelrange 15-25? It use to be in other worlds.Ske-Kats, Beetles.
Outsiders: I've only seen ant people yet, but I suppose I'll see more of them. All of the Abyss spawns, I believe.
Goblinoids: Hobgoblins in the forests, but they wont be dangerous above level 15. Goblins. Hobgoblins.
Half-orcs: Blood moon tribe, but they wont be dangerous above level 15. Blood Moon Orcs.
Magical beasts: What kind? Cokatrice are, are the dodos this kind? Displacer beasts in the Forest of Dispair. A few others I can't name.
Aberration: I know where to find beholders, one place. Any other monsters like that? Beholders & Mindflayers.
Beasts: What kind? None off memory
Constructs: Are there any golems in Amia? Glorag Mur golems. Also Maximus
Elementals: I haven't met any yet. Water elementals in Cordor Sewer. Fire elementals in Spires
Fey: Some Grigs, but not much resistance yet. Any worse around?
Monstrous humanoids: I've met medusas and I know one place with minotaurs, thats it. Anything else? Grigs, Pigmies, Medusa.
Shapechangers: I've never met one. Forest of Dispair werewolves
Reptilian: Maybe, I've met some tough lizardmen and kobolds/weak lizardmen are found all around Amia at low levels. Yuan-Ti? Kobolds, Lizardmen, Troglodytes.
Orcs: Not a threat after level 7, as far as I know. Amia Frontier orcs, Brogendenstein Forest orcs..
Animals: The animals out on the islands can be mean. How mean? Are they true animals? What are beastmasters? Amia Frontier Wolves/Boar, Brogendenstein wolves/bear/dodo, Forrstakrr spawns
Humans: bandits are found in different places, but not a threat after level 15 as far as I know. Bitter Coast Bandits, Gulf of Lumorier bandits.
Gnomes, elves, dwarves, half elves, halflings... Only other characters, as far as I know.

Might've missed a few, but there you go. Some info to help out.

Thanks, elementals and golems might be valid choices then, so are orcs perhaps. Taking vermins at level 10 seems to have been a mistake.

//Carl Coll

All I'm really saying is, who would be your rangers targeted enemies? is he the standard nature type ranger? does he call amia forest his home? if so undead are clearly an enemy..possibly drow, at one stage they were up too no good their weren't they?

I'm trying to make a pure ranger that can survive without multi classing to level 30, so I have to diminish the RP capabilities a bit to strengthen my chances to survive. That's why I want to get as broad selection of favoured enemies as possible and not thinking what kind of enemies were mean to him when he grew up, or something like that.

//Carl Coll

Ron 'BrainSplitter' wrote:

Might've missed a few, but there you go. Some info to help out.

Trolls also fall in the giant category, so after undead as first favored enemy (you can meet them from the start) they are a good second since you'll probably go to troll caves between level 5 and 10 somewhere.

and you forgot brog barbarians for humans.

This should probably be in the Build thread, but while we're here:

Doubleweapons have only two things going for them; they only need one dose of GMW/Flame/Keen, and they have 1d8 as opposed to 1d6.

The downside is that you're going to need a shield very often. You're not just a STR-based character, you're a twohandering STR-tank without full Tumble and wearing 3/4 base armour. I think that equates to 36AC with standard gear. About the only times you can manage past level 15ish with such low AC is when you have uberised HP and DR(which you won't) or in a ridiculous Bard+Cleric+WM party that can monkeystomp anything anyway.

If I was making a Ranger 30, I'd go DEX-based to get acceptable AC. I think low 50's are the best you can get with a large shield and no UMD for the +5 Sunsoul/Archmagi gear, but with a Haste that's adequate.

DEXing it makes your mundane damage output pretty terrible, but you've got Bane of Enemies for an average of 14 extra per hit, which means you'll hit close to as hard a STR-base when you're up against a Favoured, of which you'll have all the useful ones. More importantly you have a level 30 pet.

To be honest, the sad truth is a Ranger's pet is more of a benefit to a party than the Ranger himself. Going DEX-based makes that even more true, but you won't die and unsummon the dawg every nine seconds, the way you almost certainly will if you go STR-base without a Tumbledump class.

So in short, for an all-round ranger in Amia, the choice of favoured enemies might be:

level 1:
Undead (for the sewers, and later for all undead)
Level 5:
Giants (for the trolls, and later for all ettins, ogres, giants and such)
Level 10:
Monstrous humanoids (for Amia forest's medusas, maybe Mylocks, minotaurs later)
Vermins? - but not good above level 15
Orcs? - too easy around Cordor, but can be good later in Brogendenstein.
Humans? - good around this level up to 15, maybe later?
Reptilians? - kobolds/troglodytes/lizardmen. The last even higher up.
Level 15:
Outsiders (ant people near Cordor, good later)
Dragons? - only one around Cordor, but good later.
Elves/Drow? - maybe a bit useful now and later
Level 20:
Animals (Forrstakrr, Brogendenstein)
Elementals? - spire
Constructs?- Glorag Mur maybe.
Abberrations? - beholders at the lost city.
Level 25:
Some race not taken at level 20. It's just 5 more levels for the character to live so there is not that much use anymore with a favoured enemy.
Level 30:
Dragons (a slight chance to solo dragons at this level).
The end of the career and time to scrap the character anyway.

//Carl Coll

And Uberuce, it's hard to read that harsh judgement over rangers from a DM in the world where I play. The fact is that I've been playing NWN a long time in many different worlds, even if I haven't been into Amia that much. I've never had a high level ranger, it's a class I most often use for multiclassing rogues. I have been a munchkin that always tried to get the most out of my character with UMD, multiclassing, item twinking and so on, with max level as fast as possible as a goal. The sad fact is that I'm totally bored of that playstyle. Now, I will try to get a pure ranger to level 30. I don't say that I'll try to do it solo though, and I don't know if it's even possible. If it is impossible in Amia, then so be it, but I will at least try, RP meanwhile since I'm in no hurry at all, and die laughing if I can't reach level 30. If you, on the other side, have created a world where it is totally impossible for a non-munckin to reach level 30, then maybe you have created your world a bit wrong, and I'm just proving a fact. Or, perhaps I can point out flaws for rangers that you perhaps can fix. (Read; better two bladed swords, better hide/studded armor, items with improved wisdom saves - rangers/fighters/barbarians benefit most from these items and a munckin will never take one of these classes above level 10 anyway).

//Carl Coll

*embraces you and gives you a kiss on each cheek* A pure class ranger, bless your soul a very welcomed rarity you shall be.

(Is a lover of pure classes) We look forward into stealing you into the wonderful RP of the Grove! As one of the Arch Druids and a DM feel free to let me know if you have any questions or need any help.

*huggles*

Amia's not so hard that it's ever impossible to finish a character off, it's just a matter of how good or big a party you'll need.

The specific problem any Ranger has is that high level mage spawns have Dismissal as standard. That means the pet is only reliable when you're running with a Druid or Cleric. With your low AC you'll need an Improved Invisibilty and Mass Haste spammer and a couple of other frontline buddies in addition to the pet. It's not that parties like this don't exist, they're simply not as common as one with only one or two of these elements.

Oarthias wrote:

*embraces you and gives you a kiss on each cheek* A pure class ranger, bless your soul a very welcomed rarity you shall be.

(Is a lover of pure classes) We look forward into stealing you into the wonderful RP of the Grove! As one of the Arch Druids and a DM feel free to let me know if you have any questions or need any help.

*huggles*

Hah. Compare good damage and high AC to that.

By the way, Carl - I can call you Carl, can I?

Anyway, Carl, I don't know about the item-question, but I'm wondering did you try to find out IG?

I know you might be asking just to make sure, but keep in mind (if you aren't already, I dunno) that it can be fun searching for the said items with others. : )

I understand the way you think Uberuce. The familiars/animal companions are rougher in Amia than in standard NWN, and I agree that it's better to give the enemy spawns dismissal as standard than nerfing the animals down - much common in most of the gaming worlds.

Besides that, the fighter classes have always problems in the gaming worlds, compared to clerics/wizards/sorcerers. One good thing is that Amia is a high magic world with items, even if most of the items are nerfed down a bit. few items give immunities for instance.

Some ways to make Amia a bit more "fighter friendly" is to:
-Have/make heavy weapons powerful.
-Nerf down kama/kukri for the C/M/R:s
-Make int/wis/char boosting items rare.
-Have more spells rely on constitution saves and fewer on willsaves.
-Bring AC down on the monsters, but raise SR and DR on them.
-Have more monster spawn that are one-three big baddies, and less huge groups of enemies, especially important against dexterity based fighters.
-More enemies with ranged weapons.

Just a few thoughts.

//Carl Coll

*replies to edit*

One class, when pure, simply has to be the weakest, and for NWN Bioware made it Rangers. We've given them a huge *huge* boost by uberising the animal companions to the point they outclass everything but Paladins and Weaponmasters for sheer damage output, but the Ranger himself remains bottom of the pile.

Without meaning to be harsh again, a STR-base commited to light armour and twohandering has handicapped himself to the point that I don't consider it to be indicative of balance problems on the server if he dies a lot outside of large parties.

Better doubleweapons and Will saves on hide armour won't fix the problems inherent to them. On the subject of hide armour, RP a lot in the Grove and you may well get a pleasant surprise.

"Have more spells rely on constitution saves and fewer on willsaves. "

but then the question is..does that make sense? look at it this way, your char is a ranger who uses himself to fight, a cleric combines his/her own might with a fraction of a gods, mages draw directly from the weave...clerics should beat fighters...that is just how it should be, as mages should beat them generally. That isnt too say one cannot beat the other, but generally that is how it should be..remember that those high level mages have soooo much power, kiaransalee and mystra were both non-divine mages (wizards?) at one stage from my understanding. Its just how this world works.

I also hate immunities most of the time, its silly really...I wonder how many fighter players would like to suddenly find every other player on the server being immune to knockdown:D

Uberuce wrote:

*replies to edit*

One class, when pure, simply has to be the weakest, and for NWN Bioware made it Rangers.

*Cough* Umm, slight mis-spelling there fella, it's spelled B-a-r-b-a-r-i-a-n

Sheesh!

1-I'm pretty sure the hobgoblins were sent to the cutting room floor
2-I agree you should probably pick some of your favored enemies based on "my char hates these races specifically.
3-In the same respect, you should also be like "Ok for level up purposes i know im gonna be fighting giants/trolls/ and what not and choose some favroed enemies sole based on put ownage factors.

Just my three cents though.

swe_west_coast wrote:

So in short, for an all-round ranger in Amia, the choice of favoured enemies might be:

level 1:
Undead (for the sewers, and later for all undead)
Level 5:
Giants (for the trolls, and later for all ettins, ogres, giants and such)
Level 10:
Monstrous humanoids (for Amia forest's medusas, maybe Mylocks, minotaurs later)
Vermins? - but not good above level 15
Orcs? - too easy around Cordor, but can be good later in Brogendenstein.
Humans? - good around this level up to 15, maybe later?
Reptilians? - kobolds/troglodytes/lizardmen. The last even higher up.
Level 15:
Outsiders (ant people near Cordor, good later)
Dragons? - only one around Cordor, but good later.
Elves/Drow? - maybe a bit useful now and later
Level 20:
Animals (Forrstakrr, Brogendenstein)
Elementals? - spire
Constructs?- Glorag Mur maybe.
Abberrations? - beholders at the lost city.
Level 25:
Some race not taken at level 20. It's just 5 more levels for the character to live so there is not that much use anymore with a favoured enemy.
Level 30:
Dragons (a slight chance to solo dragons at this level).
The end of the career and time to scrap the character anyway.

//Carl Coll

Answering my own post...
so, now at level 22, I've learned a lot more about fighting as a pure ranger in Amia. Favoured enemies might be:
level 1:
Undead (for the sewers, and later for all undead, works into epic levels)
Level 5:
Giants (for the trolls, and later for all ettins, ogres, giants and such, works into epic levels)
Level 10:
Humans? - good around this level up to 30, mainly hunting barbarians in Brog and out in Forrstakkr. Human is always a good choice since they are found everywhere on the island.
Vermins? - not good above level 20, last ones as far as I know are snow tarantulas in Brog, but before that you'll meet a lot of them everywhere
Orcs? - too easy around Cordor, but can be good later in Brogendenstein. It's just one cave area though and will be useful between levels 18-25.
Reptilians? - kobolds/troglodytes/lizardmen. The last even higher up. Yuan-Ti can be hunted up to level 30, I think. Lizardmen to level 20.
Level 15:
Outsiders (ant people near Cordor, good later in Abyss into epic levels up to level 30)
Level 20:
Animals (Forrstakrr, Brogendenstein)
Abberrations? - beholders/mind fliers in the lost city, good gold and xp in a small area. maybe good idea to take. There are beholders in other places too. If you don't like umber hulks then take abberrations too.
Level 25:
Some race not taken at level 20. It's just 5 more levels for the character to live so there is not that much use anymore with a favoured enemy.
Level 30:
Dragons (a slight chance to solo the dragon at this level).
The end of the career and time to scrap the character anyway.

Don't take:
Beasts - as far as I know, no monsters are "Beasts" in Amia.
Dragons? - only one around, don't take it.
Elves/Drow? - maybe a bit useful now and later but only for PvP.
Dwarves - the duergars have moved and I don't think there is any other use than PvP for it.
Fey - only found as Grig in Amia forest and witch lights in the swamps around Cordor.
Gnomes/halflings - I don't think there is any other use than PvP for it.
Half orcs - only the blood moon tribe around level 10 and a few in mixed groups in other places.
Elementals? - spire and Cordor sewers, don't take it.
Magical beastst - some odd monsters are magical, like the manticores in the northern wilderness, but to few to be really useful.
Monstrous humanoids - same here, a few can be found, minotaurs in the desert and harpys in the northern wilderness, but too few to be a good choice.
Constructs?- Glorag Mur only, don't take it.
Shapechangers - maybe, a whole area is full of werewolves and mountainaraneas are in the same category, but I say there are better choices.
Goblinoids - only at low-mid level areas, toughest are the bugbears in Guldorand.

swe_west_coast wrote:

Any hints about shield traders with some good shields are appreciated.

//Carl Coll

I play an Epic ranger and I would say there is plenty out there for you. He has a Blade of Corellon (double-edged, I -think- it's keen +2 and something else). There are some nice armors for dex-based fighters out there... some closer than you might think. Cloaks as well. By having a few different cloaks and armors and helms, I'm able to shift from arche/sneak to fighter in just a moment. Though AC is difficult to come by.

This is what I use to spice up rangers.

DM Disco wrote:

This is what I use to spice up rangers.

*Snickers* Got to love Disco..

krytellan wrote:

I play an Epic ranger and I would say there is plenty out there for you. He has a Blade of Corellon (double-edged, I -think- it's keen +2 and something else). There are some nice armors for dex-based fighters out there... some closer than you might think. Cloaks as well. By having a few different cloaks and armors and helms, I'm able to shift from arche/sneak to fighter in just a moment. Though AC is difficult to come by.

I'm level 22 now. The post has lived some time. I have found a good double sided blade forged by dwarvew for sale. It's the trepedition. But after I've been able to take the altered "blood thirst" spell, I'm actually looking for good double sided maces too, since the spell give them ken and +5 properties. Best would be some weapon with slow/sleep/stun. But these are mighy rare in here.

In tough combat, I use shield and sword. I have tried to find a good bastad blade, but failed. Now, I ue a katana with blindness on hit. With "blod thirt" on it, it will do, even if it isn't the best I can think of.

As cloak I use a +4 cloak of fortification, a rare find indeed. As armor, I use a +4 padded, but up to level 21 I used a wolf armor that I bought in Kohlingen. The shield is still my old oak shield, medium +2 with barkskin 1/day for my pet. I have a +4 amuletof natural armor myself o I wont benifit from the spell. Any better shields for sale? any hints are appreciated.

No reason to overthink things; just get a Greater Mythal and a towershield and make your own.

Found an excellent double bladed sword in the fire giants last week.

Every spawn in the Frozen Wastes has some combination of Fey, Magical Beast, Vermin and, possibly, Animals (not sure what Snow Panthers and Yetis are, Beasts maybe). In combination with Undead this covers you for everything in a large Epic area.

Sokar Rostau wrote:

(not sure what Snow Panthers and Yetis are, Beasts maybe).

I think they are magical beasts, since a ranger/druid can dominate them quite easy. (Same goes for the beastmen in the beastmen caves).

Uberuce wrote:

No reason to overthink things; just get a Greater Mythal and a towershield and make your own.

I forgot that you could buy Greater Mythal chrystals in the candy store...

I have actually never seen one. Maybe when I find one, I'll start to ask around to find someone with high enough "craft armor" to make me a magical shield too.

Again, now I'm level 26 and still a pure ranger. Geting the option to take a new "favoured enemy" every time I take an epic feat was a nice surprise, widing the different options. I have learned some lessons though.

1: Aberration is a must as favoured enemy in high levels, since beholders, intellect devourers (raptors in Amia) and mind flyers are of that kind. Hunting these breeds give more xp than I could dream about before I found out where they live.

2: In the beast groups in he frozen wastes, the harpies are the single most dangerous participant, making "Monstrous humanoids" a good choice for favoured enemy at rather low level, since you count in medusas and minotaurs in it too.

3: Take elves as favoured enemy. I have been through five PvP:s this far as ranger and four of them were more or less provoced attacks from drows.

4: There are no keen bastard swords in game, but there are keen katanas. There is only one keen great sword in game and that is "lawful only". I have no real use for a double sided sword/weapon except for effortless critters, since I'm dead meat without a shield (ac 42 with a shield and 35 without...). If I made a pure dex build, I would make it evil for the "rapier of higher road" weapon.

5: A dwarf ranger would have been optimal considering the amount of time I have spent in the spires hunting giants.

4 is incorrect. The Greater Magical Weapon items in the Abyss all have Keen (bar Rapier, Kukri, and a few other high-crit items like that). Bastard Sword and Greatsword are both Keen'd.

what the *Bip* disco?

Probably already said, I'll say it again for extra dramatic effects;

BLADE THIRST.

Quote:

I have been a munchkin that always tried to get the most out of my character with UMD, multiclassing, item twinking and so on, with max level as fast as possible as a goal.

Sounds like 90% of the amia population... :roll:

Mr T

Maverick00053 wrote:

DM Disco wrote:

This is what I use to spice up rangers.

*Snickers* Got to love Disco..

He's just getting them back for this...

...Can't blame him. They even stuffed a stick in him.

*beep* Keen.. a level 21 ranger get +5 Enchantment and Keen from bladethirst.. My ranger, Davril runs around with 2 yummy schimitars with 26 ranger levels. One Thayvian, yay.

1d6 electric
+2 regen
1d8 massive crits
keen
+4 enchantment

1d6 acid
+2 con
1d8 massive crits

both get keened and +5ed. Only reason I got the +4 and keen on the thavyian one is because I can't remove it. and it helps when you got to fight without prepping first.

But yeah.. basicly what terra said. For dualwielding rangers I suggest stuffing in +2 con on both weapons. You won't find much else that's better to shove in there, and it gives you +2 fort and +60 hp at level 30 :wink:

WonWon wrote:

4 is incorrect. The Greater Magical Weapon items in the Abyss all have Keen (bar Rapier, Kukri, and a few other high-crit items like that). Bastard Sword and Greatsword are both Keen'd.

It is perhaps possible to find keen weapons in those shops, for someone who finds the way. I have heard about a shop in Abyss, but always been killed by the first spawn when I solo from Zhansibon and I have never found a party who wants to go to the abyss. I have heard about a shop in the "gauntlet" too, with nice gear, but still no one can show me the way in game and no party want to follow me.

I have never seen any keen weapons, more than those that I mention, With my own eyes. Everything else is merely rumours for me until I find them myself.

It's been said over and over again, but you don't want a keen weapon; you have Blade Thrirst for that.

Solution for ranger: find buddies and make a pure class party.

You've been around for nearly three years, and haven't ever been to that particular shop? Wow.

Try offering people to pay them. ICly, of course, I've picked up things for others, ICly, in that shop many times in the past. And if you want to experience it yourself, put up a notice on the board, again ICly, looking for travelling companions or some such.

Dakotaen wrote:

:shock: You've been around for nearly three years, and haven't ever been to that particular shop? Wow.

Yes, isn't it marvellous that there are still things that I don't know about. There are a lot of other things I don't know yet:
-Why is a dryad stuck in a tree west of Kohlingen?
-Why is a tree shimmering outside Cordor?
-How do I find the key to the door in the second tier in the old duergar mine?
-What strange bush grow behind the troglodyte mound?
-What is "spice" used for
-How is it inside the drow city? (I've never created a drow)
All these little things actually makes me keep playing. If everything was easily revealed after some days of play, things would be boring. These kinds of oddities tickles my mind and keep me going.

There are other things that I do have found out in game though:
-The yuan-ti shop
-What spider eye root is good for
-How to find gear hearts
-Who makes poisoned arrows
-What obsidian shrapnels are used for
-Where to hunt a dragon
-What paintings on the walls really can be used for
-Where to find wolvesbane

After three years of play, my highest level character is level 26, and I have never been through Abyss and I have never been to the Gauntlet, whatever it might be. But give me time and the right company and I'm sure I'll find it, not that I need to, as several other have stated, I have the spell "Blade thirst" anyway, but just to satisfy my curiosity.

PS. Keen katana, keen double edged sword and keen greatsword can all be found in regular shops that even a level 1 can reach with the cart system. Keen bastardswords (and double sided axes) are not. That is really the point in number "4" above. If you have to be level 30 to get to a shop, it's no real point to try to reach it since it's time to retire the character anyway. DS.

Quote:

-Where to hunt a dragon

Just lure some out of Cordor.

swe_west_coast wrote:

-What strange bush grow behind the troglodyte mound?

*Blinks*

[quote="swe_west_coast"

PS. Keen katana, keen double edged sword and keen greatsword can all be found in regular shops that even a level 1 can reach with the cart system. Keen bastardswords (and double sided axes) are not. That is really the point in number "4" above. If you have to be level 30 to get to a shop, it's no real point to try to reach it since it's time to retire the character anyway. DS.[/quote]

Im so with you on that one. The lack of some keened weapons and the sheer abundance of others is just disheartening

RP starts at 30.

Stick around a little with a 30 and see.

You should find out all those things ICly.

TormakSaber wrote:

You should find out all those things ICly.

I am an extreme information squirrel, picking up bits and pieces of information everyhere I go and in that way hoarding a lot of knowledge of the Amian islands. When you say that I can find all information in character, there are two ways of aquiring it; through NPC:s and through other players. I think I have asked every NPC around and haven't found any hints about the matters named. There might be other NPC:c around, or I might have had wrong race/class/alignment/gold to get the info. So be it. I think I have done what I can.

The big problem is when the group of DM:s assume that the group of players have a "common knowledge" about a thing. That kind of knowledge i never common, but shared within selected groups. When the key players in these groups quit playing, the knowledge is lost. In the end, the DM:s assume that "everybody" knows about it while in reality, in this fictional world, nobody does. I tend to believe that some of what I mentioned above falls under this category.

Then you really haven't tried hard enough, IMHO.

You have a vast untapped resource by which to do IC research and information hounding that you're not seeing, in my estimation.

Getting to Abyss to find a shop before lvl 30 seems to be a no no after some research in the forum:

Matthias wrote:

http://www.amiaworld.net/phpBB2/posting ... te&p=34112

I had Irraere go through the new Abyss today! It was definitely an experience. I went along with Timara D'Vreeze, and later an orcish fellow (whose name I can't remember, I owe you so much for raising me about 10 times) caught up and we managed to make it all the way inside the Temple itself to rescue Thamian Everstar, who'd gone ahead.

Okay, here's my analysis of the new Abyss.

PROS:

The Wastes look much, much better. I love the twists and turns, the narrow "alleys" you have to duck down into. It makes for an exciting chase when you have to outrun monsters! It also gives you an advantage - you can clog passageways so only a couple monsters can get through at a time.
The silly "I'm going to wander the wastes forever and have a random chance of getting there" scripting is gone! YAY! Good Lord, you have no idea how much that got on my nerves when I'd spend an hour and a half running around randomly, hoping to find the entrance to the Forgotten City.
The inside of the Forgotten City is much, much improved. We didn't make it to the merchant, but from what I hear, the shop is consolidated all into 1 merchant, thus making it easier to locate (and less wasted time traveling to the "other" side)!
Some of the monsters can be mind-dominated! That gives Mind Mages some sense of usefulness. =)
The dragon has its own CAVE! That's just too cool! Especially given the sneaky location of it. Way to use the new tileset effectively.

CONS:
The monsters are too hard. They seem even more powerful than before, almost JJ-like in their uberness. Having Immunity to Death on almost all of them (maybe all of them? I didn't get the chance to check) is.. well, too much given their other, natural demon immunities. They dish out about 50 damage a hit. I'm pretty sure they just bypass Premonition spells because I was getting walloped. If they don't and they just tear through the DR, then doing 100 damage a hit is too much! O_O I can't accurately say whether their Spell Resistance is good or not, because most of my spells simply didn't affect them.
The traps in the Temple are insane. One of the sonic ones did about 150 damage to Thamian Everstar, and those kind of traps are littered all over the place. There's really not enough space to maneuver around them. Granted, Irraere can fly over the bridge covered in them, but.. well, not everybody has that advantage.
The monsters cast some weird spells. Having the "big demons" (the huge Mephistophiles models) cast Black Blade of Disaster seems a little contradictory, because next round they shoot off another spell or attack, thus dispelling their own spell (since it requires concentration to maintain).
I seriously doubt that a party of even 12 level 30s would be able to go through there without burning through at least 20 heal potions each, and probably about 5 Raise Deads each. That is a lot of money to be spending just to get a look at those new items. Granted, I haven't seen them (though I hear they are AWESOME), but it's a big disincentive to even try going there. If that's what you want though, then count this one as a bonus. The areas seem like suicide though. I'm more preferential to areas that are challenging in their own right, but still fun!

Given all this, here's my summary:

Area Attractiveness: A

Creativity: A+

Monster Variety: A-

Treasure Variety: ? (Unknown as of yet!)

Monster Difficulty: C- (A little too much)

Trap Difficulty: D (way too hard, IMO)

Fun Factor: D+ (Needs work, but if it's designed to discourage people going there then mission accomplished!)

------

Don't take this too harshly, okay? I respect the DMs who went into this project for all their hard work and dedication. Overall, I think it has improved by leaps and bounds. I hope that others will speak up about their experiences with the Abyss (and other new areas) so that the DMs will have a player perspective on it all.

Thank you so much, DMs, for putting so much effort into this server.

Special thanks to Feonir for raising me once when Korthis got shoved to a weird location, as well as allowing Thamian to pick through Irra's pack to find a Raise Dead!

Also last but not least, disregard the message I sent earlier to the DM channel. I was irritated that I didn't get to see the merchandise.

Ah well, getting my ego blow from having to run away hurt, so please don't take my comment seriously. It was made in anger, not objective truthfulness.

And so is the gauntlet too:

Sokar Rostau wrote:

http://www.amiaworld.net/phpBB2/posting ... e&p=498268

Unless the shop is now selling Wonderforged items the new Gauntlet is downright excessive.

I just spent over two hours with a party of four (level 21-24) trying to get to the shop. We gave up when we all ran out of potions, Healing Kits and Raise Dead scrolls (which two of us restocked on). One person in our group died no less than 15 times.

Having the Orbs and the tops of the platforms trapped is one thing. It is an entirely different matter to go to the top of the platform, click the orb, make the Wail save, get Bigby'd and then get spammed by four Horrids, 3 Fireballs and 3 IGMS, all in the space of one turn, and then another Bigby, another 4 Horrids, another 3 Fireballs ad infinitum. The fact that the traps ignore HiPS, GS and Invisibility and target characters that are nowhere near them makes things worse. Raising someone that has been killed by this spammage is ridiculous because as soon as they are raised they are spammed again before they can take one step, let alone drink a potion.

So... does the Gauntlet shop now sell Wonderforged items of extraordinary uberness or was the intention to make it impossible for low-Epic characters, that actually need the gear, to get there and encourage level 30's, that generally don't need much of what's available, to do it?

Problems with spicing up my ranger

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